The railway between Bristol and Exeter was open long before 1880. Insights
into travel during the Victorian Era can be obtained from the book "Small
Talk at Wreyland" by Cecil Torr. The following is a relevant extract from
page 6 of part 2 of the book.

"A friend writes to him from Exeter, 8 April 1844 - "Our railway will be
sufficiently complete for an engine to travel here tomorrow, and I suppose
will be complete about the first week in May." It was opened on 1 May, and
another friend writes on 17 September - "From Bristol to Exeter we
experienced the shaking of the carriages exceedingly, and were really
obliged, as I have before said, to hold by the side of the carriage to
endeavour to steady ourselves." Yet this line was on the broad gauge, and
that was much less jerky than the narrow. I remember people saying that
they would never go up by the South Western, as the Great Western shook much
less."

In the same book it records that: "The line was opened to Moreton on 4 July
1866.", and the work "was carried out under the Moretonhampstead and South
Devon Railway Act, 1862".

The book records much anecdotal information about the experiences of
travellers by various means.

>G'day Laura,
>At 16:36 17-01-00 -0700, you wrote:
>>I have a question. How would a person travel in 1880, from
>>Torrington, N. Devon to the Bristol Port? Walk? Did they
>>have railways at that time?
>
> Probably walk to Bideford or Barnstaple and find a coastal boat up
>to Bristol?
> The railways might well have been an option by then (London to
Exter
>had been established by 1850) and I believe that, at one stage, NO PLACE in
>England was farther than 12 miles from a railway station!
>
>Best wishes,
>Bob Muchamore: (Elizabeth South, South Australia)
>WebSite: "The World of M*CH*M*RE" athttp://www.picknowl.com.au/homepages/bobm
>
>